Deific encounters IYC

[Information]

DMs (or players w/delusions of DMhood):

What constitutes a "divine encounter" in your world? Actually enountering a deity or its avatar...running into some sacred place infused with the power of a deity...? What?

And, given that, how frequent are they?

In my campaign (going on 6 years), PCs have "encountered" (or were encountered by) two deities: A forest deity in the form of a unicorn giving wisdom and advise and a deity of love visiting the leader of the party (who revered her) in a dream and later in the form of a talking statue.

How about your world?

 

[Carnifex]

Well, in my current campaign, the party has yet to meet any gods or avatars, though I fully intend them to come across several in the course of the campaign. These wont be combat encounters, though they may need to defeat a deific manifestation through other means.

In my last campaign, a Planescape one, the party met only two full gods, each once; Chronepsis the draconic god of time, and Bahamut. They did kill a demi-god though.

It all depends on the gods you ahve in your campaign, really, and their personalities. If they're distant and disinterested, you're unlikely to ever encounter them, whereas more norse/greek style gods will be more likely to turn up here and there from time to time.

 

[Crothian]

There are three diffenter kinds IMC: Dreams, visiting Holy places, and encountering the god. It doesn't happen that often. THe dreams are most common, and that's only happens to devout worshipers doing the dieties bidding. In four camapigns they only ran into a god twice, once when the rescued one's artifact and the other when they were in the outerplanes and sought him out.

 

[Tonguez]

One of the campaigns I played in had PCs as members of the Church (Rogue=Inquistor Investigator, Fighter=Temple-Knight etc)

Anyway my PC was a Half-giant Priest of the High Archon(angel) and on three occasions I encountered the High Archons 'presence', twice my pole-ax was blessed by the 'gods', and once I encountered the avatar of the Mother Goddess (when my PC was angst ridden about the gods not caring for mortals).

My current campaign (I'm DM) is set in Polynesia and the world is full of minor spirits, half-celestial and half-fiends. The Shark-goddess Sekola (of Sahuagin fame) is occasionally seen at sea, and the main Island where gameplay occurs has a resident Half-fiend Giant Eel which is worshipped by the native gnomes as their 'god' (ie the PCs can't kill the Eel without making enemies of the gnomes).
Also when the PCs first discovered the Island one of their number was sacrificed and transformed into the celestial Guardian of the island
Currently the main Villain is a half-fiendish, fire elemental ogre...